Comment: Care crisis shows this is no way to run our city

The crisis in support services for older people in Edinburgh is blighting hundreds of lives.

Some of the more extreme cases that we report on today on pages six and seven simply beggar belief. This is a glaring example of public services failing to function properly, leaving vulnerable people to pay the price.

Supporting people to live independent lives as they grow older is an increasingly complex and demanding job. Meeting those changing needs against a background of public spending cuts was always going to be extremely challenging.

But the least that we should be able to expect from the politicians that we voted for in the local elections is that they are focused on solving these problems.

Contrast the plight of those waiting for support - perhaps stuck in hospital or struggling at home - with the current goings-on at the City Chambers that we report on page 12.

Almost two weeks on from the local elections there is still no agreement on who will run the city for the next five years.

With every day that goes by it looks more and more as though party political interests are being placed above those of the city.